Energy Concessions

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) offers a variety of concessions and benefits to eligible cardholders to assist low-income Victorians with their energy bills. If you have a relevant concession card, you may be eligible for one of these concessions. To receive concession, the account must be in the name of the concession cardholder and must be the main principal place of residence.

For more information contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free) or visit;https://services.dhhs.vic.gov.au/concessions-and-benefits

For information about what concessions you are entitled to. Click here

Eligible concession cards

To be eligible, cardholders must hold one of the following cards:

• Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) issued by Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
• Health Care Card (HCC) issued by Centrelink
• Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card

Ineligible concession cards

The following issued cards are not eligible for concessions:

• Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
• Victorian Seniors Card
• “CA” (Carer Allowance) Health Card
• “FO” (Foster Care) Health Care Card
• Veterans Affairs White Card for Specific Conditions
• Veteran Affairs Gold Card Department

This page contains information about the following concessions:

• Life Support Concession
• Medical Cooling Concession
• Service to Property Charge Concession
• Controlled Load Electricity Concession
• Annual Electricity Concession
• Excess Electricity Concession
• Winter Gas Concession
• Excess Gas Concession
• Transfer Fee Waiver Concession
• Utility Relief Grant Scheme

The Life Support Concession

The Life Support Concession provides a quarterly discount on electricity where a household member uses an eligible life support machine. This concession is available to both renters and homeowners all year round.

For electricity bills, the discount is equal to the cost of 1,880 kilowatt hours (470 kilowatt hours per quarter) of electricity used each year.

Ineligible concession cards

Qualifying machines are those that use at least 1,880 kilowatt hours per annum. Machines already approved are:

• Intermittent peritoneal dialysis machines
• Oxygen concentrators
• Haemodialysis machines
• Other machines as approved by a supervising officer at the department.

Ineligible concession cards

• Continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) machines
• Bi-pap machines
• Ventilators
• Ventolin nebulisers
• Humidifiers

For other machines, please contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free) to discuss your application.

How to apply

Contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free).
Download the PDF application form from the bottom of this page

The application form needs to be completed and signed by your doctor, nurse or hospital social worker confirming your use of a life support machine.

Once completed, forward the form to GloBird by either Email or Post and we will check your concession card details with Centrelink, when confirmed we will apply the discount to your bill.

Medical cooling concessions

The Medical Cooling Concession provides a 17.5 per cent discount on summer electricity costs for cardholders where a member of the family has a medical condition that affects the body’s ability to regulate temperature. This concession is available from 1 November to 30 April each year.

The concession is given in addition to the Annual Electricity Concession.

Qualifying conditions

• Multiple sclerosis
• Lymphoedema
• Parkinson’s disease
• Fibromyalgia
• Post-polio syndrome/poliomyelitis
• Motor neurone disease

Applications for other conditions must be approved by the Department of Human Services.
Send the completed form to:

Department of Health and Human Services
Concessions Unit
GPO Box 4057
Melbourne
VIC 3001

How to apply

Contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free)
Download the PDF application form from the bottom of this page

The application form needs to be completed and signed by your doctor confirming your medical condition.

Once completed, forward the form to GloBird by either Email or Post and we will check your concession card details with Centrelink, when confirmed we will apply the discount to your bill.

The Service to Property Charge Concession

The service to property charge concession provides a discount on the electricity service charge where a household has very low electricity usage. The usage charge must be less than the service charge. The discount reduces the service charge to the cost of the total electricity usage for the billing period. This concession is available all year round.

How to apply

Contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free).
Call GloBird Energy on 13 3456 with your concession card details, and we will check your concession card details with Centrelink and apply the discount to your bill

The Controlled Load Electricity Concession

The Controlled Load Electricity Concession provides a 13 per cent discount on controlled load usage charges. The concession is only available to concession cardholders who are charged a controlled load tariff for separately metered electric hot water or slab heating. These households receive what is known as ‘a controlled load’ or ‘dedicated circuit tariff’. Households must have a dual element electricity meter or dual element smart meter to be eligible for the Controlled Load Electricity Concession.

This concession was previously called the Off Peak Electricity Concession and has been renamed to make it clear that it is only available to those household that access controlled load tariffs for separately metered electric hot water or slab heating.
The concession is applied on bills issued throughout the year.

How to apply

Contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free).
Call GloBird Energy on 13 3456 with your concession card details, and we will check your concession card details with Centrelink and apply the discount to your bill

The Annual Electricity Concession

The Annual Electricity Concession is available to help ease cost of living pressures by providing concession cardholders with a discount of 17.5% off household electricity bills. The concession applies to electricity costs all year round and is calculated based on the remaining account balance once any discounts and/or solar credits have been applied.

The Commonwealth compensation represents a subsidy of $171.60 for electricity across the year. So for a concession cardholder’s annual electricity bill, the State Government concession will not apply to the first $171.60.

How to apply

Contact the Concessions Information Line on 1800 658 521 (toll-free).
Call GloBird Energy on 13 3456 with your concession card details, and we will check your concession card details with Centrelink and apply the discount to your bill

Excess Electricity Concession

Is available to customers whose Annual Electricity Concession exceeds the trigger point for the annual period (1 Dec – 30 Nov). If this is required for your account, we’ll send you the required application form.

This is simply an extension to your existing Annual Electricity Concession

If you receive the Life support concession or the Medical cooling concession you will be automatically eligible to receive the Excess Electricity Concession and are not required to lodge an application form.

Winter Gas Concession

Domestic mains gas usage and service costs. The concession is available over the winter period of 1 May to 31 October each year.

Excess Gas Concession

Is available to customers whose winter gas bills exceeds the trigger point for the period (1 May – 31 Oct). If this is required for your account, we’ll send you the required application form.

This is simply an extension to your existing Winter Gas Concession.

Transfer Fee Waive concession

The Electricity Transfer Fee Waive concession waives the fee that is normally payable to electricity retailers when eligible concession cardholders move to a new house.

Utility Relief Grant Scheme

The Utility Relief Grant Scheme (URGS) provides assistance to low-income households in a financial crisis who aren’t able to pay for a utility account.

For more information, and to check your eligibility, visit the Victorian Government’s Utility Relief Grant and Non-Mains Utility Relief Grant schemes web page.

You could also contact us on 13 3456 to find out if you meet the criteria and ask about the Utility Relief Grant Scheme (URGS). Our team will be happy to help you apply for the scheme.

Globird Energy Hardship Policy Introduction GloBird Energy understands that electricity is an essential service and that some of our residential customers may on occasion fall into financial hardship. When this occurs, we prefer to work with those customers on an individual basis to see how we can assist them to find ways to repay and… Read More